


odds and ends

by Girlwithsixsmiles



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Crack Relationships, Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 05:53:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2762072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girlwithsixsmiles/pseuds/Girlwithsixsmiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles previously posted to Tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just In Time

**Author's Note:**

> The initial post for my ultimate crack!ship-----Thea/Barry.

“You look like you could use this.”

 

“A drink?” Thea mused as she raised her head from the counter at Verdant. Opening her eyes, she spotted Oliver’s assistant, Felicia. Or was it Felicity? Fiona? The blonde stood next to the bar patiently, armed with an encouraging smile and a pint of ice cream.

 

“Mint chocolate chip always seems to do the trick for me.”

 

“How did you know?”

 

“Oliver may have grumbled something about his sister’s boyfriend being a huge idiot.”

 

Thea couldn’t help but smirk at her characterization. “Make that  _ex_ -boyfriend.”

 

“Ouch!” Felicity winced. “Want to talk about it?”

 

“What’s there to talk about?  _He_  certainly didn’t want to talk to me about anything!” Thea could tell her voice was becoming shrill. “Sorry. I just….I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’d been so distant lately, and now he’s just pushing me away entirely.” She looked over at Oliver’s assistant, wondering why she was even there.  “And this,” Thea said, gesturing between the two of them, “is definitely outside of your job description. It’s Saturday afternoon! Did Oliver make you come here?”

 

Felicity went behind the counter and started rummaging around. “Aha!” She proclaimed, thrusting two spoons triumphantly in the air. “For the record, Oliver has no idea I’m here. I’m actually supposed to be meeting a friend who’s coming in from out of town, but I found out he’s running late, so I thought I’d swing by and see how you were.” She made her way over to the stool beside Thea and sat down, opening the pint of ice cream and handing it over to Thea.

 

Thea willingly picked up a spoon and started digging in. “Remind me again why it is we haven’t done this before?”

 

“Because I’m with your brother too much to have a life.” Thea’s eyebrow raised. “Whatever it is you’re thinking, I assure you, it’s not that,” Felicity quickly supplied. “My mouth just kind of does what it wants when it comes to Oliver…. Well, case in point,” she said, feeling the heat rise on her cheeks.

 

Thea laughed for the first time in a while. “You’re not so bad, blondie.” Felicity just shook her head, ponytail swishing from side to side. “So what do you have planned for you and your friend?”

 

“We were going to the new exhibit at the observatory about dwarf stars. It’s really quite fascinating, how….” Felicity trailed off once she noticed Thea scrunching her nose in obvious disapproval.

 

“No offense, but that sounds horrible.”

 

Felicity puffed out a short laugh. “None taken. But it suits our style, so it’s fine.”

 

“Whatever floats your boat, I guess. So do I get to meet this mystery man or what?” Thea slid the pint over to Felicity, who obliged by digging her own spoon in.

 

“Barry? I wouldn’t call him a mystery. Well….it is a mystery why your brother doesn’t get along with him.”

 

“He knows Oliver?”

 

“Yeah. We met Barry when he came from Central City to investigate the break-in in the Applied Sciences Division at Queen Consolidated. They….butted heads.”

 

Felicity’s phone beeped. “Speaking of…” She scanned the message on her screen and her eyes widened momentarily before she pocketed her phone. “I hate to bail, but duty calls.” She got up quickly, the bar stool teetering before Thea placed her hand out to stop it.

 

“So Oliver  _does_  make you work on the weekends.”

 

“It appears so,” Felicity replied with a frown, gathering up her things in a hurry.

 

“What about Barry?”

 

“Crap,” Felicity said, coming to a standstill. “Look, I know you don’t really know me….and you know even less about Barry, but do you think you could do me a favor and keep him company until we finish this conference call with the investors in Tokyo?”

 

“Beats moping around by myself, I suppose.”

 

“Thanks,” Felicity said, reaching over and touching Thea’s forearm. “I really appreciate it. I owe you one. Let me know the next time you need something removed from the internet.”

 

“Excuse me?” Thea raised an eyebrow.

 

“I just mean….you take a bad Facebook photo or something, I can make it go away. Permanently.”

 

“Okay…..thanks?”

 

“Thank  _you_.” Felicity pivoted on her heel, heading towards the exit. “It’s cool if Barry meets you here, right?” she asked over her shoulder, fingers already tapping away on her phone.

 

“Sure, if he knows where to find it.”

 

“I think he’ll be able to find his way here,” Felicity said with a strange smile as she pushed through the swinging doors.

 

* * *

 

Thea lost track of time as she devoured what was left of the mint chocolate chip. Polishing off the last bite, she got up from her bar stool, collecting the sticky spoons and making her way over to the small sink behind the bar. A careless toss left the cardboard container on the floor near the trash can. As Thea bent under the counter to pick up the discarded item, a nearby voice called out. “Hello? Anybody here?”

 

Having already forgotten she was expecting a guest, Thea raised up quickly in surprise, knocking her head on the countertop. “Oww,” she groaned.

 

"I guess I can take that as a yes." A lanky guy with brown hair leaned over the counter, peering down at her. "Are you Thea?"

 

"The one and only," she said, sinking to the floor in defeat, one palm clutching her forehead.

 

"Sorry about that. I’m Barry." He rounded the counter, clutching his messenger bag. "But I’m sure Felicity already told you that. Need a hand?" He dropped his bag, reaching for a dish towel, expertly scooping ice inside to create a makeshift ice pack.

 

"You seem to know what you’re doing there," Thea said, gesturing at the ice pack.

 

"I know a thing or two about head injuries," Barry said with a grin, holding the pack to her head.

 

Even with his forearm mostly blocking her view, she could tell he was really cute. Definitely a change of pace from Roy, if his collared shirt and Chuck Taylors were any indication. He looked really young, but she knew he had to at least be Felicity’s age, which brought to mind a pressing question.

 

"So are you and Felicity together, or….?"

 

Barry leaned back on his heels. The instantaneous blush that appeared on his cheeks led her to believe it was a touchy subject for him. He shied away, avoiding eye contact while still maintaining pressure on her bump. “No, we’re just friends,” he begrudgingly admitted. “She’s got a lot going on with work and…”

 

"Let me guess, my idiot brother plays a role in this?" It wasn’t hard for Thea to connect the dots, based on what Felicity had said earlier. Oliver and Barry clearly butted heads over the quirky blonde.

 

"Yeah……not that I’m calling your brother an idiot or anything! He’s a really good guy, I mean one of the best, really-"

 

"It’s fine," Thea stopped him, placing a hand on his upper arm.

 

She heard some noise from the loading dock area. Glancing at her watch, she realized how late it had gotten. Her staff was already starting to arrive for their evening shifts. Staff that, for now, still included one Roy Harper. She did not feel like dealing with him and his drama tonight. Her assistant manager could surely handle it if she ducked out for a few hours.

 

"Wanna get out of here? My ex is going to be here any minute and I’d rather not be here when that happens."

 

"Sure, we could go to the observatory-"

 

"Yeah, I’m not seeing the thing about dwarves."

 

"Dwarf  _stars_ ,” Barry said, chuckling. “That’s fine, I’ll wait for Felicity to go with me.” He stood up, extending a hand to Thea. “Where to, then?”

 

Thea grabbed his hand, standing up. She tossed the towel of ice, which was rapidly melting, into the sink. “Anywhere. Just get me out of here quick.”

 

Barry smiled. “ _That_ , I can do.”


	2. "You're all I can think about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> ”Yes, okay..I’ve dreamt about you and now? You’re all I can think about.“ - Olicity

"Yes, okay….I’ve dreamt about you and now? You’re all I can think about."

"Did I have horns? I bet I had horns. I remember reading this article once where they symbolized—-"

"FELICITY! You’re not listening to me."

"What? You said you had a dream about me. I dream about you and Diggle and Roy all the time. There was one time where we were whitewater rafting…..which I thought was weird because you know, the whole boat thing, but—-"

"Felicity," Oliver said, exasperated. He placed his hands on her shoulders, staring deep into her eyes. "You’re all I can think about."

"Oh." Felicity’s mouth quickly closed, eyebrows sky-high.

"Do you understand?" Oliver’s familiar question had a different undertone this time. There was no mission, no lives on the line. It was a quiet night in the new lair. There was no misunderstanding what he meant.

"Yeah," Felicity smiled. "I think I do."


	3. "You're too good at this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> "You're too good at this." - Felicity/Tommy

"You’re too good at this."

"What?" Felicity asked, spinning around in her office chair. "It’s nothing more than a basic algorithm to determine which bank accounts were accessed during a certain window at the Swiss Bank."

"You’re remarkable," Tommy said, shaking his head. 

"Not the first time I’ve heard that," Felicity said with a nod, turning back to her monitors. 

"I’m serious. What you do is nothing short of amazing, down here with Oliver and John. When you’re working, you just radiate this…..this energy. It really suits you."

"Definitely beats answering phones and scheduling appointments," she said, fingers gliding over the keys.

"I just wish people could see what great work you’re doing," Tommy said, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"You know why we have to keep this a secret."

"I know, I know. Speaking of secrets…" He placed his arms around her from behind the chair, stilling her motion. "Have you told Oliver yet?"

Felicity whipped back around to face him. “Of course not! You know how he’ll be. All judgy eyes and withering stares,” Felicity said, mimicking Oliver’s reaction by squinting her eyes. 

"You do realize we’ll have to tell him eventually, right? He’s going to be my best man. Kinda hard to do that if you don’t even know your best friends are engaged."

"Soon, I promise," Felicity said, leaning up to kiss him, left hand reaching out to caress his cheek. The noticeable glint of the ring adorning that important finger shimmered even in the dark foundry.

A throat cleared behind them. Oliver stood there, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised. “Anything you guys want to tell me?”


	4. "Why do you have clothes on?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> "Why do you have clothes on?" - Oliver/Felicity

"Why do you have clothes on?"

"Excuse me?" Felicity squeaked, pivoting around on her heel to face Oliver. 

He shook his head, laughing. “I think you’re rubbing off on me. What I  _meant_  to say was, where’s your gym bag? Did you not remember we had a training session today?”

"Again? Didn’t you beat me up enough last week?" Felicity pouted. As much as she wanted to train, the bumps and bruises were adding up. She never knew her body could be so sore. She couldn’t fault Oliver for being irritable when he came back hurt from missions anymore, not when she felt like this after a low-impact training session.

"I seem to recall  _you_  being the one to initiate these training sessions.”

"Are you sure that you don’t have any residual brain damage or memory loss from that hit you took the other night in the Glades? There’s no way those training sessions were my idea."

"I’ve watched you on the computers enough by now to know how to access the security cameras in here. I’m sure I can find some footage that will corroborate my story."

"You wouldn’t dare touch my babies!"

"Try and stop me," Oliver said, moving past Felicity towards her bevy of electronics.

Without thinking, Felicity grabbed Oliver’s wrist and used his forward momentum to flip him onto his back.

"Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to——"

"So you  _have_ been paying attention during training,” Oliver said, seemingly unfazed by Felicity’s actions with the exception of being flat on his back. 

Felicity frowned. “Is that—-is that a smile I see on your face? You are such a freak. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?

"Who? Me? Nooooooooooooo," Oliver said, hopping to his feet.

"If you wanted me to take off my clothes, all you had to do was ask." Felicity cringed, instantly regretting her words. "You know what I  _meant_.”

"Really? All I have to do is ask?" Oliver asked, smile widening.

"Oh shut up, you’re getting what you wanted," Felicity said, heading to the bathroom to change.

"Not quite, but we’re getting there," Oliver said to himself.


	5. Bad News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> one of them being diagnosed with a terminal illness AU - Oliver/Felicity

The ER doctor pulled the curtain back, allowing Felicity to see the nurse’s station from her spot on the gurney. She had passed out at her desk at Queen Consolidated, which  _wouldn’t_ have been out of the ordinary if it were 4 am and she was writing code, but instead, it was 2 pm and she was writing a strongly worded memo to the entire office regarding power strips. (Seriously people, do NOT daisy chain them together!)

She could tell the diagnosis wasn’t going to be a good one based on the doctor’s expression. “Ms. Smoak, have you felt especially tired or lethargic lately?” The doctor asked, studying the chart in his hands.

"Nothing a nice cup of coffee or seven can’t fix," Felicity said, breaking into a nervous smile.

That caused the doctor (Dr. Brenner, if his nametag was to be believed) to look up at her quickly. “Do you normally consume that much caffeine?” 

"I mean, I basically had a constant IV of Red Bull in college. Well, figuratively, because I  _hate_ needles.” Felicity shivered.at the thought.

"There’s no other way to say this, but—-"

"Felicity!" Oliver came rushing in, sidestepping Dr. Brenner to reach Felicity’s side. "What’s going on? Diggle told me there was an ambulance, and—-"

Dr. Brenner cleared his throat. “Excuse me, sir, but you are not permitted to be in this area. It’s restricted to patients only.”

Oliver turned to face Dr. Brenner then, and by the tone of his voice, it was hard to tell if it was Oliver or the Arrow. “My name is on a wing in this very hospital. I will go wherever I damn please.” 

"I’m sorry, Mr. Queen. I didn’t realize it was you. My apologies."

"What were you going to say before, Doctor?" Felicity asked.

"We need to run further testing to confirm my diagnosis, but based on your symptoms, it’s likely you have a form of leukemia."

The breath rushed out from her lungs in an instant. “ _What?_ ”

A loud buzzing cut through the sudden silence in the medical bay. Dr. Brenner reached down to his waist, grabbing his pager and scanning the display. “I don’t mean to be abrupt, but there’s an emergency surgery I need to scrub in on. An oncologist will be down to see you shortly.” He nodded, then pulled the curtain closed behind him.

Felicity sat in a haze, not really registering anything, until she felt Oliver’s hands sliding up her arms, finally resting on her cheeks, brushing away tears she hadn’t realized she was crying. “Hey,” Oliver whispered. “Look at me. Whatever it is, we’ll fight it together, okay?” He kissed her forehead, then held her in his arms as they waited for the oncologist to arrive.


	6. Bump In The Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> literally bumping into each other AU - Oliver/Felicity

Felicity was running late for her psych study group, which was meeting at a coffee shop uptown, and she was already dreading it. She absolutely  _hated_  having to take these bullshit classes that had nothing to do with her major, especially when she had a massive string of code she needed to program for her final project. 

She had her messenger bag strap in a tight grip while she continued to scroll through her email on her phone. Which overpriced Cambridge coffee place were they meeting at this time? She hoped her friend Tina would stay true to herself and order the wrong latte, letting Felicity finish it as per usual. Scholarship students couldn’t keep buying $4 cups of coffee, after all. 

Admittedly, Felicity wasn’t the most coordinated, but she typically had enough spatial awareness to prevent herself from walking into walls. However, her email was enough distraction to allow her to collide with what felt like a brick wall, dropping her phone in the process. This brick wall was just a little more human in nature, in the form of a Harvard frat boy. A good looking frat boy, but a frat boy nevertheless. 

"Whoa. Watch out there, short stuff. Don’t want to hurt yourself." He said, placing his hands on her shoulders, an easy smile on his face.

Felicity backed away from his touch fuming, reaching down to pick up the fragments of her phone. “You’ll be the one hurting if I can’t fix my phone. I had  _just_  figured out how to boost the processor to run the newest operating system. I can’t afford to pay the upgrade charge.”

"Let me guess? MIT?"

"Wow. No wonder you got accepted into an Ivy League school. You’re a certifiable genius," Felicity said as she assembled the phone back together, powering it on.

"Is it working?"

"Lucky for you, it still works. But gee, I was really looking forward to reprogramming all your electronics to play the Macarena every morning at 4:30."

"You can do that?" He asked, stunned.

"Maybe. Maybe not," she said as she brushed past him towards the coffee shop. "You’ll just have to wait and see, Oliver Queen." 

"Wait, how do you know my name?" He yelled, chasing after her.


	7. "Come home, you idiot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> "coming home" - Oliver/Felicity

He should have known the plan would blow up in his face.  _She_  was the brains of the operation, after all. He thought he could do it on his own this time, not rely on her like he always had. Try to give her the space she needed. They were still in a strange holding pattern, not talking about  _it_ , but not  _not_  talking about it, either. 

In any case, there he was, trapped in an empty industrial shipping container somewhere near the docks in Starling City, after failing to catch the cartel importing weapons as he had originally intended. It was pitch black, but thankfully, he still had his phone on him, using the flashlight feature to get accustomed to his surroundings. He found that it was an electronic mechanism locking the container shut.  _Of course,_  he thought.  _So much for space._

She was on the line in a matter of seconds, whispering into her phone. “Can it wait? I’ve got a deadline on this presentation for the new expansion to Applied Sciences. There’s a lot riding on this.”

He had forgotten, of course, that she was planning on pulling an all-nighter at the QC offices. “Yeah, yeah, it’s nothing,” he said with feigned nonchalance. 

"Oliver, it’s clearly not nothing."

"No, no, it’s fine. I’ll try Digg. Maybe I can catch him before he puts Sara to bed."

“ _Oliver._ " Even through the phone, her bullshit detector was as sharp as ever. 

"Any chance you can remotely disengage a lock on a shipping container for me?"

"What did you do? Never mind, it doesn’t matter." He could hear her fingers already rapidly moving over the keys in the background. "Do you have any of the specs on the lock?"

"I think I can read a serial number off of it. Hold on, let me turn my flashlight back on."

"You’re locked  _inside_?” She hissed. “I don’t even want to know.” _  
_

As he recited off what he could make out on the component housed on the inside of the container, he could hear her keystrokes becoming even more frenzied. Then, a series of beeps, as the lock disengaged and the doors opened.

"Thank you."

"Don’t mention it. Now come home, you idiot."


	8. Open Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> "sunlight" and "open your eyes" - Oliver/Felicity

Light streamed in through the window, finally a sunny day after what seemed like weeks of clouds. Oliver hadn’t moved from his perch at Felicity’s bedside for what felt like the same amount of time. She had been in the intensive care unit with an induced coma ever since the accident. 

No arrows or vigilantes were involved; instead, it was a drunk driver, running a red light, slamming right into her trusted Mini Cooper. Oliver had heard the call over the police scanner, instantly rushing to the hospital, arriving to the emergency room just as the paramedics arrived, Diggle and Roy in tow. They were in the waiting room for hours, waiting to hear something,  _anything_. Finally, a doctor appeared to tell them about the severity of her head injuries, that she had stabilized for the moment, but that her recovery was not going to be an immediate one.

The one benefit of no longer having a day job, Oliver noted, was that he could spend his days at her side, not worrying about the outside world. How could he, when his whole world was lying in a hospital bed unconscious? 

The doctors were no longer giving Felicity medication to keep her in the coma, but she had yet to wake up on her own. He had heard that talking to comatose patients can sometimes help them regain consciousness, so that is exactly what he did. He told her everything, stories from his childhood, stories of Thea tagging along with her big brother, stories of some of his less-than-legal exploits with Tommy, stories from Lian Yu, from Hong Kong….everything he had never been able to put into words before.

"I just need you to open your eyes, Felicity," Oliver said, stroking her hand as the sunlight shimmered in her golden hair. "I need to know that you’re going to be okay." He linked his fingers through hers, giving them a light squeeze. He thought he was imagining things, that his sleep deprivation had finally caught up with him, but there it was- almost imperceptible, but nevertheless, her hand was squeezing his back. 

"Felicity?" He asked, using his free hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, finally opening just enough that Oliver could see the blue eyes he’d been missing for so long. 

"Mmm…." She mumbled, licking her lips. 

"Here," Oliver said, quickly grabbing the water pitcher next to her bedside, pouring her a glass.

She drank greedily, draining the cup within moments. She finally opened her eyes wide, focusing on Oliver standing before her. “Did you seriously break into a zoo with Tommy to ride elephants or did I dream that?”

Oliver laughed then, even as a tear escaped from the corner of his eye. She was going to be just fine.


	9. Shooting Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> "chocolate" and "shooting star" - Thea/Barry  
> (sequel to chapter one: Just In Time)

"I can’t believe you still dragged me to this exhibit," Thea moaned. 

"We missed it in Starling City, so it’s only fair you see it in Central City," Barry said with a smile.

Thea wasn’t mad, though. Not in the slightest. She was grateful that she was with an adorable dork whose idea of fun was going to the observatory to see some star exhibit. She needed that kind of normal in her life. “You’re really excited about this, aren’t you?” She asked as she linked her arm through his.

"If my calculations are right, tonight should be extra special."

"Is that so?" Thea asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just you wait," Barry said, eyes twinkling.

“ _Fine_ ,” she mock-pouted. “But I think I at least deserve a reward for tagging along for this.”

"What did you have in mind?"

Thea spotted a vendor cart on the other side of the pavilion. “Buy me an ice cream cone?”

"I think that can be arranged," he said with a smile.

She was finishing her double dip of chocolate when Barry grabbed her shoulder. “Look!”

"Is that a…."

"Shooting star," Barry finished, grinning widely. "Want to make a wish?"

"No need. I’ve got everything I need right here," she said as she leaned in.


	10. Secret Admirer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt:  
> "secret admirer" - Thea/Barry

"Are you serious? They actually set up a post office box for all of the fan mail you get?" Felicity asked in astonishment.

"What can I say? People love the Flash," Barry said with a grin.

"Ugh," Felicity groaned, rolling her eyes. "I’m going to stop you right there. You’ve already got a big enough head as it is."

"Fine. Would you mind at least helping me sort through some of it?"

"Aww," Felicity cooed a few minutes later, as she pulled out a crayon drawing of Barry in his suit. "Look how cute this is! Barry?"

Barry was distracted, a flush steadily rising up his cheeks as he read a letter.

"What is that?" Felicity asked, snatching it out of his hands, Barry’s reaction delayed enough that she actually got ahold of it. Her eyes scanned the paper, lighting up in recognition. "Someone’s got an admirer!"

"It’s nothing. Probably just some fanatic wanting attention. Just ignore it."

"Nuh uh, mister. Your face is reason enough to see this through. Give me 20 minutes and I’ll have her tracked down."

"Felicity, you don’t—"

"Let me do this for you! Please. It’s no problem."

Sure enough, Felicity returned a few minutes later, but with a confused look on her face. “I was not expecting this.”

"What? Is she in Iron Heights or something?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that you already know her."

"Huh?"

"Oliver’s sister. Thea. She was the one who wrote the letter. And apparently has a BIG thing for you. Or your alter ego, at least."

"Seriously?"

"Positive."

"Huh." Barry thought back to the party held for Moira at the Queen Mansion and remembered Oliver’s sister wearing a stunning gown, but also remembered a boyfriend trailing her every move.

"I thought she had a boyfriend."

"Roy? No, they ended things a while back."

"Really? Perhaps a trip back to Starling City is in my future."


	11. Christmas In Tights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ohemgeeitscoley's birthday. Because who doesn't want to imagine a world where Oliver is wearing tights and is dressed like an elf?

It was bad enough that he had to wear the tights, honestly. (They  _itched_. How did girls wear these on purpose?!) But when the little tweenage dickheads took it upon themselves to pinch his thigh, it took summoning all of his inner strength to not throttle them right then and there. Granted, he would be thrilled to no longer have to wear his elf costume once he got fired from his shitty mall job, but he really needed the money. He would just have to grin and bear it.

"You okay?" His coworker, Felicity, asked. If there was one bright spot in this hellish job, it was surely her. A fellow elf like himself, the two of them were tasked with wrangling the unruly brats onto Santa’s lap, getting them prepped for the overpriced photo op. ( _Of course_  she looked better in the tights than he did.)

He didn’t get a chance to respond, however, as a screaming toddler chose that precise moment to kick him in the shin. “Are you  _kidding_  me?” He muttered under his breath, wincing.

“Come here, shorty,” a gruff voice called out behind Oliver. Quentin, the mall’s Santa, adjusted his (probably itchy) fake beard as he leaned forward, welcoming the toddler into his lap. “I’m having trouble believing that you’ve been good this year.” As the toddler quickly softened under the questioning stare of “Santa,” Oliver nodded his thanks to Quentin for the rescue.

While John the photographer managed to capture a halfway decent photo of the brat and Santa (the screaming child photos were more prevalent than you would imagine), it was Roy’s job to upsell the parent into buying the package with the 8x10”  _and_ the keychain because“ _memories like these should be captured for all time_.” His monotone delivery certainly didn’t help his sales pitch. There wasn’t a whole lot of motivation to succeed in this job. It was a means to an end for all of them.

Quentin was supplementing his private detective paycheck with some extra holiday money. John was using the extra cash to help pay for an engagement ring for his girlfriend Lyla. Roy needed to fix up his Mustang after blowing the engine  _again_. Felicity was getting money for her next semester’s expenses at MIT. And Oliver? His reasons were far from noble. He was providing the funding for the epic “ugly holiday sweater” kegger blowout he and his best friend Tommy were having. His parents would  _never_ foot the bill for that.

He never told any of his coworkers that, however. They didn’t need to know that he was just another trust fund jerk-off. Especially  _her_. For some reason, he found himself wanting to impress Felicity. Why he thought he would be able to do that while wearing  _tights_  is an utter mystery. Nevertheless, he often found himself staring for just a beat too long, watching her push her glasses back up her nose, calming down a crying child with ease, or twisting an earring absentmindedly.

John called him out on it one day in the breakroom. “When are you going to ask Blondie out? The googly eyes are getting a little ridiculous.”

“I’m not—— It’s just——” Oliver started, before dipping his head in shame. “It’s really obvious, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“She’s too good for me. She’s a genius and I barely passed algebra in high school. Plus, my track record with relationships? Not great.”

“Sounds like a lot of excuses.”

“Entirely  _valid_  excuses.”

“Seriously, kid. Just man up and ask her already.”

Oliver put it off for as long as he could, but finally, he gave in. It was late one Sunday evening, the sun long gone, and they were walking to their cars in the parking lot, Felicity’s trusty hand-me-down coupe parked next to Oliver’s BMW.

“So…..do you have any plans on the 24th? Ugh, what am I thinking? You’re probably spending time with your family on Christmas Eve, right?”

“Considering I’m Jewish, no,” Felicity said with a smile.

“Any interest in going to a party I’m having?”

“A party?” Felicity raised an eyebrow, almost hidden under her beanie pulled low over her ears.

“It’s stupid,” Oliver said, avoiding eye contact, kicking a loose piece of pavement around. “My friend Tommy and I are having an ugly holiday sweater party.”

“Sounds like fun,” Felicity cut in.

Oliver continued on, not even hearing Felicity. “Honestly, it’s so dumb. It’s just another excuse for my friends to get shit-faced. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“Are you already trying to talk me out of going or something?”

“Wait….you actually want to go?”

“Why not? I’m pretty sure I have an old dreidel sweater that my bubbe gave to me ages ago. It’ll be perfect.”

“You’re sure?” Oliver asked, still skeptical.

“Yes, silly,” Felicity said, stepping a little closer, reaching up on her toes. “I’m sure,” she said, sealing her words with a kiss.


End file.
